Summer is in Full Swing

Summer is here and we have been out of school since May 23rd. I had to work May 27th and I've been off since then. I am already going stir crazy and looking for something to do. Don't get me wrong, I love that I can sleep in but there is only so much I can do around the house without needing some outside stimulation. 

So I was excited when my principal sent an e-mail saying we could get in to the school building to start working this week. Of course, I had to go! This first picture is what my room looked like when I arrived. 

This is what it looked like after working for one day. I was only there for a few hours but I was able to accomplish a lot. 

My furniture is now in place but I still have a lot of cleaning out to do. I'd like to find a good way to organize my math files, games, activities, and manipulatives so they are all together in one place but I'm still trying to find the best way to do that. I've cleared out a filing cabinet drawer but I haven't starting that project yet. 

This week I also ordered the brochures I send to my students before school starts. Since we are switching classes again next year, Mrs. Smith and I went to together to create our brochures. I chose the design with the school colors and I love the way they turned out. I'll share a picture once they arrive. 

Brochures by Vistaprint

I also ordered some Random Acts of Kindness cards. I created them using the free business cards. We do a lot of these and I wanted a way for students to leave a note with each one. I think I'll have my students leave one of these cards when they do random acts of kindness.

Free Business Cards by Vistaprint



I also ordered a few books from Amazon. 

Doing Science in Morning Meeting

Doing Math in Morning Meeting

Teach Like a Pirate

I did morning meeting with my students last year and they really liked it. I think their favorite part was when I let them sign up to bring things in to share. It was like show and tell for 5th graders. There was always someone who had something to share. They shared jokes, magic tricks, pictures from trips, and insects they found. This coming year I'd like to be a little more consistent with morning meeting and thought if I could incorporate science and math (subjects I teach) it would be a great way to start each class after transitions. 

My brain is already thinking of ideas of things to do different next year. Do any of you do morning meeting or closing circles with your students? I'd love to hear your success stories!

I'm always looking for new ideas to try in my classroom! Are you planning something new to try in your classroom next year? I'd love to hear about them so please feel free to share!

 

Daily Data

Summer is here and I'm already trying to find something to do. Monday was a holiday and Tuesday was our last teacher work day. I haven't done a lot this week but I did make a file to add to Teacher Pay Teachers. I've had a few people ask about my Daily Data board that I do with my students.

I purchased sorting circles from EAI. I teach two math classes so I picked two different colors of push pins. I picked them up in the Dollar Spot at Target last year. Each class has their own colors and the buckets on the left side of the board hold those pins.

Each week I post a different question and the students use a pin to record their response on the venn diagram. One year I used number circles but with the number of students I have this year I found that the push pins worked better.

In their math journal, the students record the question and draw the venn diagram with the responses. Then we use that data to create graphs, observe trends, and make inferences. Want to check out the file? Take a look in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. 

Daily Data File

Week 37- Final Week of 2013-2014

This was our final week of school, but we didn't slow down all week. We started off reading to Kindergarten students. 

All the students loved this! One of the Kindergarten student said he wanted to read all day with his partner. 

This week we also did another engineering challenge: Cup Pyramid. I loved seeing the creative ways my students came up with to solve this problem.

Wednesday we dissected cow eyeballs! This was a hit with almost everyone. We had a few students who had to leave because they were a little grossed out. When you made a slit in the front of the eyeball to get the lens out liquid squirted out. 

Check out the faces! They were really grossed out but had a lot of fun. 

Thursday was 5th Grade Graduation! We were all dressed up for the program.

Brandon and Dyani won the Principal's Cup this year for outstanding leadership, character, and positive attitude. Congratulations!

After Graduation we had our final walk. The 5th grade students walk the entire school while all the other students and teachers cheer them on. It is great because our 5th grade students get to see all their former teachers. There are normally lots of tears shed. 

 Here is a picture of Mrs. Reasner, Mrs. Smith, and myself (left to right). We were all dressed up for the occasion too.

That night we had the 4th grade and 5th grade dance. So needless to say, it was a full day!

The last day of school was field day and class party. The fire truck also came and hosed us off for a little while. 

 It was a hot day but we all survived!

 We came in for lunch and to cool off for a while.

I loved it today because so many of my former students came by to see me!

It has been a wonderful school year! We had so much fun and learned a lot along the way. It was great to get special notes from my students thanking me for being their teacher this year. I will miss all my students! I hope you all have a great summer!

Week 36- Refraction, Engineering Challenges, & Pentominoes

This week we did a little experiment to see how refraction works. My students put a penny under a cup and then filled the cup with water. 

Refraction makes the penny disappear! 

I divided my students into groups for the House of Cards Engineering Challenge. Smart-Chick on TeachersPayTeachers has several great engineering challenges.

Each group got a deck of cards and a pair of scissors. Their goal was to build the tallest free standing structure. I loved seeing them work to find a solution to make their structure the tallest.

I also think my students really loved doing this! 

The tallest structure of the day was from Skyler, Jared, and Evan. Their tower was 31 inches tall.

Then I had them stretch their brain in math. We pulled out the Pentominoes and had them work to create as many different 3x5 arrays using different combinations of 3 of the pieces. 

We only have one more week of school left before summer break. I can't believe it is coming to an end. I have some more fun activities planned for the last week of school, along with awards day and field day.